Toy robot

ABSTRACT

A toy robot having a first arm for automatically simulating a karate chop when the second arm is moved slightly. The arm operation is accomplished by rotating the right arm, thereby winding up a spring, and cocking it in a raised position. The cocking mechanism is released to allow the spring to force the right arm downward when the left arm is moved slightly.

United States Patent Cooper TOY ROBOT [72] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: ldeal Toy Corporation, Hollis, N.Y. 22 Filedi Jan. 27, 1971 [21] Appl.No.: 110,023

' Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 800,426, Feb. 19, 1969,

Pat. No. 3,587,191.

[52] US. Cl ..46/l48 [51] Int. Cl. ..A63h 13/02 [58] Field of Search 46/247, 119, 148

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,425,153 2/1969 Bonanno et al ..,...46/1 l 9 Julius Cooper, New Hyde Park,

[451 Nov. 21, 1972 3,419,994 l/l969 Glass et a]. 19 3,377,740 4/1968 Bonanno et a1 ..46/1 19 3,587,191 6/1971 Cooper ....46/247 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-J. Q. Lever Attorney-Amster & Rothstein [5 7 ABSTRACT A toy robot having a first arm for automatically simulating a karate chop when the second arm is moved slightly. The arm operation is accomplished by rotating the right arm, thereby winding up a spring, and cocking it in a raised position. The cocking mechanism is released to allow the spring to force the right arm downward when the left arm is moved slightly.

I 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDNUVZI m2 SHEET 1 OF 2 FIG. 5.

INVENTOR J24. caoPe'R 11 U1 ll :o I I J/7a Ill ATTORNEY TOY ROBOT This application is a division of co-pending application, Ser. No. 800,426 filed Feb. 19, 1969, now U.S.

Pat. No. 3,587,191 and assigned to the same assignee.

This invention relates to toy robots, and more par ticularly to a toy robot with self-triggering arm motions.

There are prior art toy robots which have been provided with caterpillar tracks and battery-operated motors, such a robot moving in either the forward or reverse direction depending on the position of a switch. Generally, such prior art toy robots have been provided with arms which remain in fixed positions during movement of the toy robot.

It is an object of this invention to provide a toy robot with arms which are capable of executing a specific movement to perform some function at a predetermined point during the robots travel.

It is another object of this invention to provide a robot with a pair of arms, one of which can be cocked to perform a specific function when the other engages an obstruction (or is moved slightly by a child).

It is still another object of this invention to provide the aforesaid arm action in an infinite number of combinations, that is, where the arm which performs the function can be cocked to move from any initial position, and the other arm which triggers the function does so when it is moved slightly from any preselected initial position.

The above and other objects are achieved in a novel toy robot by mounting the two arms, at their shoulders, on a common shaft extending through a supporting frame. The right arm is first rotated in the direction of a simulated karate chop until it is in the terminal position of the chop movement. The arm is then rotated approximately 90 in the reverse direction. A clutch mechanism permits free rotation of the arm in the forward direction, but the reverse movement winds up a bias spring and also cocks the arm in an initial chop position. When the cocking mechanism is released, the arm moves from he initial position to the terminal position and simulates a karate chop. The left arm is also moved to an initial desired position, typically extending forward of the robot body and slightly downward. When this arm engages an obstruction and is forced downward slightly, it releases the cocking mechanism and the bias spring forces the right am! through a simulated karate chop.

' Because each arm can be set by the child in any initial position, there are an infinite number of combinations possible (the karate chop type of operation being only illustrative). The right arm can also be provided with different attachments for simulating various actions. For example, an object can be placed in the right hand of the robot so that when the cocking mechanism is released and the right arm springs forward the object will be thrown in the process.

Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon a consideration of the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawing in which:

FIG. I is a front view, shown partly broken away, of an illustrative toy robot constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is side view, shown partly broken away, of the robot;

2 FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the robot with cover section l6'ofFIGS. 1 and 2 removed;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken through body section 10 of the robot showing the mounting of arms 12a, 12b in supporting frame 14;

FIGS. '5 and 6 are sectional views taken along respective lines 5-5 and 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but shows the position of arm 12a following a movement from the cocked position shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken through line 8-8 of FIG. 2. I

As shown in FIG. 1, the robot includes an upper body part 10 and a lower body part 11. The upper part 10 of the robot includes a lower section which can be snap-fitted onto part 11 as shown. The upper section 10a is connected to a head 13 and two arms 12a, 12b. The two arms are pivoted at their shoulders to a shaft supported in frame 14. The frame 14 can be mounted inside section 10a of the robot in any conventional manner.

Lower body part 11 is provided with two batteries 60a, 6012 contained in battery compartment 11a. The positive terminal of battery 60a isconnected to the negative terminal of battery 60b by a metal bridging element 69 secured inside section 10b of the robot in any conventional manner. To change the batteries, the snap-fit of sections 10 and 11 is released, new batteries are put into place, and the two sections are then snapfitted together once again.

The bottom section includes a three-position knob 15. Two pins 19a, 19b extend through respective arcuate slots (see FIG. 3) in cover plate 16. The two pins rotate around the axis of knob 15 as the knob is moved by hand. Similarly, if the two pins are rotated relative to each other, the knob turns with them. The switch assembly is mounted in lower section 11b of the bottom half of the robot body. This section further includes two caterpillar tracks 18a, 18b.

Referring to FIG. 2, base section 11b includes a mounting plate 30 which can be secured in place in any conventional manner. At the top of the plate are various contact elements, to be described below. Knob 15 is attached to shaft 29, the shaft extending through base section 11b and plate 30 to element 19. This element bears'against the underside of plate 30 to maintain knob 15, shaft 29 and element 19 in a fixed vertical position. Element 19 includes a pair of horizontal legs (see FIG. 3), one of pins 19a, 19b depending from the end of each leg. The two pins extend through arcuate slots 16a, 16b in cover plate 16. The cover plate is snap-fitted over sections such as 30a in the mounting plate in a conventional manner.

Attached to shaft 29 are two wiper contacts 62, 65. These contacts rotate in horizontal planes as shaft 29 is turned and control the direction in which motor 31 operates. The motor is secured to the underside of support plate 30.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, axles 28, 43 are mounted in four respective lugs 30b, 30c, 30f, 30g extending down from the underside of plate 30. At the end of each axle there is attached one of elements 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d. Each element includes small and large diameter sections, the large diameter sections having the two caterpillar tracks 18a, 18b placed around them. The drive for thetracks is provided by axle 43.

Two additional lugs 30d, 30e depend from the underside of plate 30. Shafts 41, 42 are each mountedat one end in one of these two lugs, and at the other end in lug 300. The gear train shown in FIG. 3 serves to increase the torque on axle 43 relative to the motor torque and to decrease the speed of the axle relative to the motor speed. Gear 45, consisting of large diameter section 45a and small diameter section 45b, is mounted for free rotation on shaft 41 and engages motor gear 44. Gear 46, consisting of large diameter section 46a and small diameter section 46b is mounted for free rotation on shaft 42. Similarly, gear 47, consisting of large diameter the disc. Contact element 67 is fixed to plate.30. One

end of each of contact element 65 and 67 is provided with a hole through which shaft 29 passes. Contact element 67 is bent so that the end around shaft 29 bears against contact element 65. The other end of contact element 67 extends into one battery compartment 11a of the robot body so that it supports the negative terminal of battery 60a. Thus, the negative terminal of the battery source is extended to contact element 65 independent of its orientation as determined by the position of shaft 29 Contact element 61 is similarly mounted to plate 30. One end of the element is extended into the other battery compartment 11a and supports the positive terminal of battery 60b. The other end of the contact element is bent up toward contact element 62 to extend the positive potential of the battery source to contact element 62 independent of its orientation relative to plate 30. Terminals 63, 64 are mounted on plate 30 for engagement with contact element 62, 65, the two terminals being connected by wires on the other side of plate 30 to the two terminals of motor 31. The operation of a reversing mechanism utilizing the relative movement of pins 19a and 19b to turn shaft 29 and thereby rotate wiper contacts 62 and 65 is fully described in co-pending application, Ser. No. 800,426, filed Feb. I9, 1969 and assigned to the same assignee.

The arm operation sequence is shown symbolically in FIG. 2. Right arm 12a can be moved freely in the counter-clockwise direction. The child moves it to some arbitrary position as shown by the numeral 90. He then rotates the arm in the clockwise direction to the position shown by the numeral 86. In so moving the arm in the reverse direction, a spring is wound and the armjs cocked in the upper position. When the cocking mechanism is released, the arm springs forward from position 86 to position 90. As shown in FIG. 2, the robot arm simulates a karate chop along are 88. However,any other terminal position such as 84 can be selected and when the cocking mechanism is released robot arm 120 will spring forward from position 80 along an are 82 shown in FIG. 2.

Left arm 12b is mounted for movement in either direction. However, clockwise rotation of the arm in FIG. 2 has no effect on the operation. A small counterclockwise rotation, on the other hand, serves to release the cocking mechanism so that arm 12a can spring forward. In operation, after arm 12a is positioned as desired by the'child, arm712b is rotated in the clockwise direction to a desired position such as that shown by thenumeral 92. Thereafter, if the arm is rotated only slightly in the'counterclockwise direction along are 94 to position 96, the'cocking mechanism is released and arm 12a springs forward. Any initial position for arm 12b can be selected. However, a position such as that shown by the numeral 92 is preferred because an obstruetion can be placed in the path of the robot to automatically cause the arm to rotate slightly in the counterclockwise direction as the arm hits the obstruction during forward movement of the robot.

The arm structure is'shown most clearly in FIGS. 4-7. Referring to FIG. 4, the two shoulder portions of the arms are mounted for pivotal movement within body part 10 of the robot, the two arms being secured to shaft 50 as shown at 51. Arm 12b is an integral element which includes clutch. member 12b extending through a hole in frame 14. Similarly, arm 12a includes a clutch member 12a extending through a hole in the other side of frame 14. Also mounted on shaft 50 are two additional elements 53 and 55. Element 53 includes a clutch member 530 for engaging clutch element 12a. It also includes two lugs 53b, 53d, as shown most clearly in FIGS. 5 and 7. Also attached to element 53 is a pin 53a for engaging end 52b of spring 52. The spring is mounted on element 53 and its other end 52a is held in slot of frame 14. The spring serves to bias element 53 for rotation in the counter-clockwise direction in FIGS. 5 and 7.

Element 55 includes both a clutch section 55b for engaging clutch member 1212' and'a toothed section 55a. Spring 54, mounted on shaft 50 between elements 53 and 55, serves to bias each of elements 53, 55 toward its respective mating clutch member 12a, 12b.

The rear section of frame 14 includes two cut-outs which form an inverted U-shaped element consisting of two vertical sections 14c and a bridging leg 14d. A lug 14c is mounted on the rightmost section 140 in FIG. 4, as shown in FIG. 6, for engaging toothed section 55a of element 55. It is apparent that element 55 cannot be rotated in the counter-clockwise direction of FIG. 6 because such movement is obstructed by lug Me. However, element 55 can move in the clockwise direction, as shown, with the inverted U-shaped element of frame 14 being bent outward slightly as shown by the dotted lines in FIG. 6.

The frame also includes two additional cut-outs 14b, 14f along its upper surface as shown in FIGS. 4,5 and 7. These cut-outs permit movement of lugs 53b, 53:1 to the extreme positions shown in FIGS. 5 and 7. Lug 53d also moves within the central cut-out defined by sections 140 for engagement with section 14d of the frame as shown in FIG. 5.

In operation, arm 12a is first moved in the counterclockwise direction of FIG. 2 to a desired terminal position 90. Referring to FIG. 4, it is seen that such a movement permits clutch members 12a 530 to move relative to each other. As arm 12a is rotated, element 53 is forced to the right in FIG. 4 against the restraining force of spring 54. After the arm is rotated to the desired terminal position, spring 54 forces element 53 to move to the left to the position shown in FIG. 4 where the two clutch elements are engaged. Thereafter, arm 12a is rotated in the clockwise direction of FIG. 2. Because the two clutch elements are engaged, element 53 rotates on shaft 50 together with arm 12a. Initially, lug 53d is in the position shown in FIG. 7. As element 53 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the lug bears against frame section 14d and forces it outward as shown by the dotted lines in FIG. 5. After the lug has cleared section 14d of the frame, this section of the frame springs back into place as shown in FIG. 5. As element 53 is moved in the clockwise direction from the position shown in FIG. 7 to the position shown in FIG. 5, the two ends of spring 52 are forced toward each other. The spring is thus wound and is clocked to move arm 2a from the position shown in FIG. 5 to that shown in FIG. 7. However, such a movement is prevented as long as section 14d of the frame prevents rotation of element 53. Lug 53b is provided in order to prevent excessive movement of arm 12a in the clockwise direction during the cocking operation. After the arm as been rotated clockwise to an extent shown by are 88 in FIG. 2, lug 53b bears against the upper part of the frame to prevent further rotation.

Arm 12b is then moved in the clockwise direction of FIG. 2. The same motion is in the counter-clockwise direction in FIG. 6 since he view is taken from the right side of the robot. When arm 12b is rotated in this direction, clutch elements 55b 12b slip relative to each other. As the rotation of he arm continues element 55 is forced to the left in FIG. 4 against the bias force of spring 54. When the child stops moving arm 12b, the spring forces element 55 to the right so that the clutch is engaged once again. During this clockwise movement (FIG. 2), it should be noted that element 55 does not rotate about shaft 50. Teeth 55a and lug l4e serve as a one-way clutch which permits rotation of element 55 only in the clockwise direction of FIG. 6.

After arm 12b is positioned, such as shown by the numeral 92 in FIG. 2, the robot is set into motion. As he robot continues to move in the forward direction, if arm 12b is forced downward slightly, for example, by engagement with an obstruction placed in the path of movement of the robot, element 55 rotates slightly with the arm due to the fact that with a counter-clockwise rotation of arm 12b in FIG. 2, the clutch comprising elements 55b and 12b is engaged. The same movement is in the clockwise direction of FIG. 6, and inasmuch as element 55 moves with arm 12b it is apparent that teeth 55a force lug Me and section 14d of the frame outward. This, in turn, allows lug 53d in FIG. 5 to clear section 14d and spring 52 forces arm 12a to rotate in the counter-clockwise direction of FIGS. 2, 5 and 7. The rotation is limited by the engagement of lug 53d with the top part of the frame as shown in FIG. 7. During the movement, right arm 12a simulates a karate chop or can perform some other function, e.g., the throwing of an object originally placed in the arm.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment, it is to be understood that this embodiment is merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous modifications may be made therein and other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A toy robot comprising a body, first and second arms, a shaft for mounting said first and second arms in said body, first and second clutch means mounted on said shaft, said first clutch means for engagement with said first arm to permit rotation of said first clutch means on said shaft only when said first arm is rotated in a first direction, said second clutch means for engagement with said second arm to permit rotation of said second clutch means on said shaft only when said second arm is rotated in a first direction, spring means mounted on said first clutch means and adapted to be wound when said first clutch means and said first arm are rotated in said first direction of said first arm, means for cocking said first clutch means and said first arm in a cocked position responsive to the rotation of said first arm and said first clutch means in said first direction of said first arm through a predetermined arc, and means responsive to movement of said second arm and said second clutch means in said first direction of said second arm for releasing said cocking means to allow said spring means to rotate said first clutch means and said first arm in a second direction of said first arm.

2. A toy robot in accordance with claim 1 wherein said first direction of said first arm is opposite to said first direction of said second arm when looking at said body from either side thereof.

3. A toy robot in accordance with claim 2 further including means for biasing said first and second clutch means toward opposite ends of said shaft.

4. A toy robot in accordance with claim 1 further including means for biasing said first and second clutch means toward opposite ends of said shaft.

5. A toy robot in accordance with claim 1 further including means for limiting the are through which said first arm and said first clutch means can be rotated from any initial position in said first direction of said first arm.

6. A toy robot in accordance with claim 5 wherein said cocking means includes a lug on said first clutch means and stop means mounted for movement away from said first clutch means when said lug bears against it during rotation of said first arm and said first clutch means in said first direction of said first arm, said stop means being operative to spring back toward said first clutch means after said lug has cleared it to thereafter block movement of said first clutch means in said second direction of said first arm under the force of said spring means, and said releasing means is operative to move said stop means away from said first clutch means when said second arm is rotated in its first direction.

7. A toy robot in accordance with claim 1 wherein said cocking means includes a lug on said first clutch means and stop means mounted for movement away from said first clutch means when said lug bears against it during rotation of said first arm and said first clutch means in said first direction of said first arm, said stop means being operative to spring back toward said first clutch means after said lug has cleared it to thereafter block movement of said first clutch means in said second direction of said first arm under the force of said spring means, and said releasing means is operative to move said stop means away from said first clutch means when said second arm is rotated in its first direction. 

1. A toy robot comprising a body, first and second arms, a shaft for mounting said first and second arms in said body, first and second clutch means mounted on said shaft, said first clutch means for engagement with said first arm to permit rotation of said first clutch means on said shaft only when said first arm is rotated in a first direction, said second clutch means for engagement with said second arm to permit rotation of said second clutch means on said shaft only when said second arm is rotated in a first direction, spring means mounted on said first clutch means and adapted to be wound when said first clutch means and said first arm are rotated in said first direction of said first arm, means for cocking said first clutch means and said first arm in a cocked position responsive to the rotation of said first arm and said first clutch means in said first direction of said first arm through a predetermined arc, and means responsive to movement of said second arm and said second clutch means in said first direction of said second arm for releasing said cocking means to allow said spring means to rotate said first clutch means and said first arm in a second direction of said first arm.
 1. A toy robot comprising a body, first and second arms, a shaft for mounting said first and second arms in said body, first and second clutch means mounted on said shaft, said first clutch means for engagement with said first arm to permit rotation of said first clutch means on said shaft only when said first arm is rotated in a first direction, said second clutch means for engagement with said second arm to permit rotation of said second clutch means on said shaft only when said second arm is rotated in a first direction, spring means mounted on said first clutch means and adapted to be wound when said first clutch means and said first arm are rotated in said first direction of said first arm, means for cocking said first clutch means and said first arm in a cocked position responsive to the rotation of said first arm and said first clutch means in said first direction of said first arm through a predetermined arc, and means responsive to movement of said second arm and said second clutch means in said first direction of said second arm for releasing said cocking means to allow said spring means to rotate said first clutch means and said first arm in a second direction of said first arm.
 2. A toy robot in accordance with claim 1 wherein said first direction of said first arm is opposite to said first direction of said second arm when looking at said body from either side thereof.
 3. A toy robot in accordance with claim 2 further including means for biasing said first and second clutch means toward opposite ends of said shaft.
 4. A toy robot in accordance with claim 1 further including means for biasing said first and second clutch means toward opposite ends of said shaft.
 5. A toy robot in accordance with claim 1 further including means for limiting the arc through which said first arm and said first clutch means can be rotated from any initial position in said first direction of said first arm.
 6. A toy robot in accordance with claim 5 wherein said cocking means includes a lug on said first clutch means and stop means mounted for movement away from said first clutch means when said lug bears against it during rotation of said first arm and said first clutch means in said first direction of said first arm, said stop means being operative to spring back toward said first clutch means after said lug has cleared it to thereafter block movement of said first clutch means in said second direction of said first arm under the force of said spring means, and said releasing means is operative to move said stop means away from said first clutch means when said second arm is rotated in its first direction. 